The first reading of rabbinic Judaism argues that rabbinic texts promote peace. In the wake of failed rebellions against Rome, the rabbis rejected violence. They claimed that these events came about ...
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The first reading of rabbinic Judaism argues that rabbinic texts promote peace. In the wake of failed rebellions against Rome, the rabbis rejected violence. They claimed that these events came about because of the sins of the Jewish people. The rabbis thus instructed their followers to focus on leading pious lives. Only in the messianic era would Israel’s enemies be defeated, and at that time only God would wage war. The second reading of rabbinic Judaism argues that rabbinic Judaism promotes violence. The desire to do violence to non-Jews is alive and well in rabbinic texts; it is just that the rabbis recognized that they could not act on that desire. They therefore spoke about war as something that either belonged in the distant past or had to be postponed to the distant future. Thus, they celebrated past wars against the Canaanites and the Amalekites and looked forward to the defeat of God’s enemies in the future messianic era.Less

Rabbinic Judaism

Robert Eisen

Published in print: 2011-01-12

The first reading of rabbinic Judaism argues that rabbinic texts promote peace. In the wake of failed rebellions against Rome, the rabbis rejected violence. They claimed that these events came about because of the sins of the Jewish people. The rabbis thus instructed their followers to focus on leading pious lives. Only in the messianic era would Israel’s enemies be defeated, and at that time only God would wage war. The second reading of rabbinic Judaism argues that rabbinic Judaism promotes violence. The desire to do violence to non-Jews is alive and well in rabbinic texts; it is just that the rabbis recognized that they could not act on that desire. They therefore spoke about war as something that either belonged in the distant past or had to be postponed to the distant future. Thus, they celebrated past wars against the Canaanites and the Amalekites and looked forward to the defeat of God’s enemies in the future messianic era.

Martin S. Jaffee

Published in print:

2001

Published Online:

November 2003

ISBN:

9780195140675

eISBN:

9780199834334

Item type:

book

Publisher:

Oxford University Press

DOI:

10.1093/0195140672.001.0001

Subject:

Religion, Judaism

This book is a study of the relationship of oral tradition to written sources among different Jewish groups that thrived in Palestine from the later Second Temple period into Late Antiquity. Its main ...
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This book is a study of the relationship of oral tradition to written sources among different Jewish groups that thrived in Palestine from the later Second Temple period into Late Antiquity. Its main concern is to track the emerging awareness, within diverse Palestinian scribal groups, of the distinction between written books and the oral traditions upon which they were based or in light of which they were interpreted. The thesis holds that during the Second Temple period in particular, diverse Jewish scribal communities –such as the composers of Jewish pseudepigrapha, the Dead Sea community, and the Pharisees – certainly employed oral traditions in their literary and interpretive work. But they did not appeal to oral tradition as an authoritative source of knowledge. This was reserved for written books regarded as prophetic transmissions from antiquity. The emergence of a coherent ideology of oral tradition as a kind of revelation comparable to that of Scripture is associated with the consolidation of third century rabbinic Judaism. The book argues that the rabbinic ideology of Oral Torah – “Torah in the Mouth” – is, in great measure, a legitimation of the institution of rabbinic discipleship, which depended upon the primacy of face‐to‐face relationships, unmediated by the written word.Less

Martin S. Jaffee

Published in print: 2001-05-17

This book is a study of the relationship of oral tradition to written sources among different Jewish groups that thrived in Palestine from the later Second Temple period into Late Antiquity. Its main concern is to track the emerging awareness, within diverse Palestinian scribal groups, of the distinction between written books and the oral traditions upon which they were based or in light of which they were interpreted. The thesis holds that during the Second Temple period in particular, diverse Jewish scribal communities –such as the composers of Jewish pseudepigrapha, the Dead Sea community, and the Pharisees – certainly employed oral traditions in their literary and interpretive work. But they did not appeal to oral tradition as an authoritative source of knowledge. This was reserved for written books regarded as prophetic transmissions from antiquity. The emergence of a coherent ideology of oral tradition as a kind of revelation comparable to that of Scripture is associated with the consolidation of third century rabbinic Judaism. The book argues that the rabbinic ideology of Oral Torah – “Torah in the Mouth” – is, in great measure, a legitimation of the institution of rabbinic discipleship, which depended upon the primacy of face‐to‐face relationships, unmediated by the written word.

This introductory chapter argues that not only the emerging Christianity drew on contemporary Judaism but that rabbinic Judaism, too, tapped into ideas and concepts of Christianity to shape its own ...
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This introductory chapter argues that not only the emerging Christianity drew on contemporary Judaism but that rabbinic Judaism, too, tapped into ideas and concepts of Christianity to shape its own identity. Common wisdom has it that belief in the unity and uniqueness of God has been one of the firmly established principles of Jewish faith since time immemorial. The emerging Christian sect set out to elaborate the notion of the one and only God in terms of first a binitarian and then a trinitarian theology—that is, they took the decisive step to include God's Son in the godhead, this followed by the inclusion of a third divine figure, the Holy Spirit. The rabbis were certainly aware of such developments and responded to them. The rabbinic literature has preserved a wealth of sources that portray the rabbis as engaged in a dialogue with people who present views that run counter to the accepted or imagined rabbinic norm system.Less

Introduction

Peter Schäfer

Published in print: 2012-02-26

This introductory chapter argues that not only the emerging Christianity drew on contemporary Judaism but that rabbinic Judaism, too, tapped into ideas and concepts of Christianity to shape its own identity. Common wisdom has it that belief in the unity and uniqueness of God has been one of the firmly established principles of Jewish faith since time immemorial. The emerging Christian sect set out to elaborate the notion of the one and only God in terms of first a binitarian and then a trinitarian theology—that is, they took the decisive step to include God's Son in the godhead, this followed by the inclusion of a third divine figure, the Holy Spirit. The rabbis were certainly aware of such developments and responded to them. The rabbinic literature has preserved a wealth of sources that portray the rabbis as engaged in a dialogue with people who present views that run counter to the accepted or imagined rabbinic norm system.

This book is part of a lifelong effort to make sense of two of the strangest and most difficult, and yet most formative and inspirational aspects of life: fasting and asceticism in rabbinic culture. ...
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This book is part of a lifelong effort to make sense of two of the strangest and most difficult, and yet most formative and inspirational aspects of life: fasting and asceticism in rabbinic culture. Chapter 1 outlines that rabbinic Judaism does in fact contain ascetic elements, but that the asceticism of rabbinic Judaism is significantly different from that of Christianity in that it is largely incidental and instrumental rather than essential and that the two could co-exist. Chapter 2 examines the beliefs in theological principle and their implications for the rabbinic pursuit or avoidance of pleasure. Chapter 3 surveys the use of terms in the rabbinic corpus and evaluates what this usage implies about rabbinic asceticism. It is suggested in chapter 4 that fasting is the post-destruction substitute for its biblical predecessor, the Nazirite. Lastly, Chapter 5 explores the differences in attitude toward fasting, and perhaps toward active ascetic behavior in general, between the rabbis of the Land of Israel and those of Babylonia.Less

Introduction

Eliezer Diamond

Published in print: 2003-11-20

This book is part of a lifelong effort to make sense of two of the strangest and most difficult, and yet most formative and inspirational aspects of life: fasting and asceticism in rabbinic culture. Chapter 1 outlines that rabbinic Judaism does in fact contain ascetic elements, but that the asceticism of rabbinic Judaism is significantly different from that of Christianity in that it is largely incidental and instrumental rather than essential and that the two could co-exist. Chapter 2 examines the beliefs in theological principle and their implications for the rabbinic pursuit or avoidance of pleasure. Chapter 3 surveys the use of terms in the rabbinic corpus and evaluates what this usage implies about rabbinic asceticism. It is suggested in chapter 4 that fasting is the post-destruction substitute for its biblical predecessor, the Nazirite. Lastly, Chapter 5 explores the differences in attitude toward fasting, and perhaps toward active ascetic behavior in general, between the rabbis of the Land of Israel and those of Babylonia.

This book seeks to reconstruct the earliest rabbinic discourse of minut (frequently understood as the Hebrew equivalent of the Christian term “heresy”), and to reassess the place that early ...
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This book seeks to reconstruct the earliest rabbinic discourse of minut (frequently understood as the Hebrew equivalent of the Christian term “heresy”), and to reassess the place that early Christianity occupied in that discourse. It suggests that the emergence of the rabbinic discourse of religious identity was a response to an identity crisis of a post-traumatic society, shattered by the powerful Roman empire. In order to re-affirm its values and distinct Jewish identity Palestinian rabbinic society developed a discourse of “heresy,” in which its religious boundaries were re-established by the labeling of some Jews as minim, and their placement beyond the pale. That discourse emphasized notions of social and communal solidarity and belonging, much more than a strictly defined concept of “correct belief,” and minim, accordingly, were Jews who's fault was seen in their separation from the rest of the Jewish community. The place that Christianity occupied in that discourse was relatively small, and the early Christians, who only gradually were introduced into the category of minim and became to be considered as such, were not its main target. Throughout Late Antiquity, the “significant other” for Palestinian Rabbis remained the Roman Empire, and the religious challenge with which they were mostly occupied was the Empire's power and the challenge it posed to the belief in God's power and His divinity.Less

Adiel Schremer

Published in print: 2009-12-18

This book seeks to reconstruct the earliest rabbinic discourse of minut (frequently understood as the Hebrew equivalent of the Christian term “heresy”), and to reassess the place that early Christianity occupied in that discourse. It suggests that the emergence of the rabbinic discourse of religious identity was a response to an identity crisis of a post-traumatic society, shattered by the powerful Roman empire. In order to re-affirm its values and distinct Jewish identity Palestinian rabbinic society developed a discourse of “heresy,” in which its religious boundaries were re-established by the labeling of some Jews as minim, and their placement beyond the pale. That discourse emphasized notions of social and communal solidarity and belonging, much more than a strictly defined concept of “correct belief,” and minim, accordingly, were Jews who's fault was seen in their separation from the rest of the Jewish community. The place that Christianity occupied in that discourse was relatively small, and the early Christians, who only gradually were introduced into the category of minim and became to be considered as such, were not its main target. Throughout Late Antiquity, the “significant other” for Palestinian Rabbis remained the Roman Empire, and the religious challenge with which they were mostly occupied was the Empire's power and the challenge it posed to the belief in God's power and His divinity.

For more than a century, scholars of ancient Judaism and early Christianity have assumed that ancient Jews viewed Gentiles as ritually impure, and that this alleged principle of Gentile ritual ...
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For more than a century, scholars of ancient Judaism and early Christianity have assumed that ancient Jews viewed Gentiles as ritually impure, and that this alleged principle of Gentile ritual impurity was the basis for a strict and burdensome policy of separation between Jews and non‐Jews. The present volume corrects decades of erroneous scholarship on the question of Gentile ritual impurity and the history of Jewish perceptions of Gentiles in antiquity. Although purity and impurity were intimately connected with questions of identity and otherness in ancient Jewish culture, the terms “pure” and “impure” were employed in various ways by different groups of Jews to describe and inscribe sociocultural boundaries between Jews and Gentiles. Close analysis of biblical, Second Temple, New Testament, patristic, and rabbinic sources, shows that at least four distinct modes of impurity were associated with Gentiles by different groups – ritual impurity, moral impurity, genealogical impurity, and carnal impurity. This unexpected diversity of ancient Jewish views of Gentile impurity is tied to widely differing definitions of Jewish group identity and the access of Gentiles to that identity. Consequently, ancient Jews exhibited widely varying attitudes towards intermarriage and conversion – the two processes by which group boundaries might be penetrated. These diverse views of the permeability of the Jewish–Gentile boundary through intermarriage or conversion, deriving in turn from diverse conceptions of Gentile impurity and Jewish identity, contributed to the rise of sectarianism in Second Temple Judaism, and to the separation of the early church from what would later become rabbinic Judaism.Less

Gentile Impurities and Jewish Identities : Intermarriage and Conversion from the Bible to the Talmud

Christine E. Hayes

Published in print: 2002-12-12

For more than a century, scholars of ancient Judaism and early Christianity have assumed that ancient Jews viewed Gentiles as ritually impure, and that this alleged principle of Gentile ritual impurity was the basis for a strict and burdensome policy of separation between Jews and non‐Jews. The present volume corrects decades of erroneous scholarship on the question of Gentile ritual impurity and the history of Jewish perceptions of Gentiles in antiquity. Although purity and impurity were intimately connected with questions of identity and otherness in ancient Jewish culture, the terms “pure” and “impure” were employed in various ways by different groups of Jews to describe and inscribe sociocultural boundaries between Jews and Gentiles. Close analysis of biblical, Second Temple, New Testament, patristic, and rabbinic sources, shows that at least four distinct modes of impurity were associated with Gentiles by different groups – ritual impurity, moral impurity, genealogical impurity, and carnal impurity. This unexpected diversity of ancient Jewish views of Gentile impurity is tied to widely differing definitions of Jewish group identity and the access of Gentiles to that identity. Consequently, ancient Jews exhibited widely varying attitudes towards intermarriage and conversion – the two processes by which group boundaries might be penetrated. These diverse views of the permeability of the Jewish–Gentile boundary through intermarriage or conversion, deriving in turn from diverse conceptions of Gentile impurity and Jewish identity, contributed to the rise of sectarianism in Second Temple Judaism, and to the separation of the early church from what would later become rabbinic Judaism.

Judaism has been opposed to celibacy because marriage was a normal condition and a divine ordinance. The Jewish tradition provides evidence of exceptions to the rule against celibacy among marginal ...
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Judaism has been opposed to celibacy because marriage was a normal condition and a divine ordinance. The Jewish tradition provides evidence of exceptions to the rule against celibacy among marginal sects, such as the Therapeutrides, Essences, and Qumran community. There were even exceptions made by Rabbinic Judaism associated with Torah study.Less

“And Jacob Remained Alone” : The Jewish Struggle with Celibacy

Eliezer Diamond

Published in print: 2007-11-01

Judaism has been opposed to celibacy because marriage was a normal condition and a divine ordinance. The Jewish tradition provides evidence of exceptions to the rule against celibacy among marginal sects, such as the Therapeutrides, Essences, and Qumran community. There were even exceptions made by Rabbinic Judaism associated with Torah study.

This chapter compares Avot's chain of transmission to the succession lists of the early Christian church. It continues the exploration of the wide historical context for Avot by focusing on ...
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This chapter compares Avot's chain of transmission to the succession lists of the early Christian church. It continues the exploration of the wide historical context for Avot by focusing on Christianity. Christianity emerged as a sister religion to rabbinic Judaism during the early Common era, and the relationship between rabbinic Judaism and early Christianity suggests that the early Christian experience may harbor instructive counterparts to Avot. The comparison of Avot's chain of transmission to Christian succession lists suggests that both rabbis and proto-orthodox Christians employed the same literary genre, within the context of two distinct evolutionary histories and in pursuit of some similar political strategies. While God is ever present in the Christian scene, he has essentially been replaced by Torah in the rabbinic setting.Less

Avot's Chain of Transmission and Early Christian Parallels

Amram Tropper

Published in print: 2004-03-18

This chapter compares Avot's chain of transmission to the succession lists of the early Christian church. It continues the exploration of the wide historical context for Avot by focusing on Christianity. Christianity emerged as a sister religion to rabbinic Judaism during the early Common era, and the relationship between rabbinic Judaism and early Christianity suggests that the early Christian experience may harbor instructive counterparts to Avot. The comparison of Avot's chain of transmission to Christian succession lists suggests that both rabbis and proto-orthodox Christians employed the same literary genre, within the context of two distinct evolutionary histories and in pursuit of some similar political strategies. While God is ever present in the Christian scene, he has essentially been replaced by Torah in the rabbinic setting.

The Epilogue shares personal reflection on the practical ramifications of this study. Most important, if violent and peaceful readings of Judaism are both possible, can Judaism provide Jews with ...
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The Epilogue shares personal reflection on the practical ramifications of this study. Most important, if violent and peaceful readings of Judaism are both possible, can Judaism provide Jews with guidance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? The argument is made that guidance can indeed be found in the pragmatism of rabbinic Judaism that allowed Jews to survive and thrive for centuries. Pragmatism should encourage Jews to adopt a two-state solution that is in line with the peaceful reading of Judaism. Also shared here are personal, empirical reflections on relationships with non-Jews, Muslims, and Arabs that strengthen the argument for a peaceful understanding of Judaism.Less

Epilogue : Personal Reflections on Where We Go from Here

Robert Eisen

Published in print: 2011-01-12

The Epilogue shares personal reflection on the practical ramifications of this study. Most important, if violent and peaceful readings of Judaism are both possible, can Judaism provide Jews with guidance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? The argument is made that guidance can indeed be found in the pragmatism of rabbinic Judaism that allowed Jews to survive and thrive for centuries. Pragmatism should encourage Jews to adopt a two-state solution that is in line with the peaceful reading of Judaism. Also shared here are personal, empirical reflections on relationships with non-Jews, Muslims, and Arabs that strengthen the argument for a peaceful understanding of Judaism.

Introduces key technical terms referring to the composition and transmission of oral tradition, and proposes a general theoretical model for studying the various elements of Jewish oral tradition in ...
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Introduces key technical terms referring to the composition and transmission of oral tradition, and proposes a general theoretical model for studying the various elements of Jewish oral tradition in particular. The most important technical terms are: “oral‐literary tradition” (defined as “verbal products of a culture that have pretensions beyond everyday speech”); “oral‐performative tradition” (defined as “the sum of performative strategies” for transmitting the content of oral‐literary tradition); and “text‐interpretive tradition” (defined as “the body of interpretive understandings that arise from multiple performances of a text”). The theoretical model of oral tradition employed here enables studies of the interrelationships among three dimensions of Jewish oral tradition: the textual substance of the tradition, the social settings for its transmission, and, most importantly, the ideological system by which the texts of oral tradition are represented. For rabbinic Judaism, the concept of Torah in the Mouth and the description of the earliest rabbinic text (the Mishnah) as repeated tradition are the crucial ideological elements under study.Less

Introduction

Martin S. Jaffee

Published in print: 2001-05-17

Introduces key technical terms referring to the composition and transmission of oral tradition, and proposes a general theoretical model for studying the various elements of Jewish oral tradition in particular. The most important technical terms are: “oral‐literary tradition” (defined as “verbal products of a culture that have pretensions beyond everyday speech”); “oral‐performative tradition” (defined as “the sum of performative strategies” for transmitting the content of oral‐literary tradition); and “text‐interpretive tradition” (defined as “the body of interpretive understandings that arise from multiple performances of a text”). The theoretical model of oral tradition employed here enables studies of the interrelationships among three dimensions of Jewish oral tradition: the textual substance of the tradition, the social settings for its transmission, and, most importantly, the ideological system by which the texts of oral tradition are represented. For rabbinic Judaism, the concept of Torah in the Mouth and the description of the earliest rabbinic text (the Mishnah) as repeated tradition are the crucial ideological elements under study.

As Ra‘anan Boustan observes, sacrificial cult remained the dominant paradigm for religious piety among Jews and Christians, despite the absence of sacrificial practices in both contexts. ...
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As Ra‘anan Boustan observes, sacrificial cult remained the dominant paradigm for religious piety among Jews and Christians, despite the absence of sacrificial practices in both contexts. Reinvigorated in discourses of martyrdom, blood remained a charged site of discursive contact, ritual contestation and exegetical competition. Comparing two contemporaneous narratives from late antiquity, rabbinic accounts of the death of Zechariah the prophet and the Story of the Ten Martyrs, Boustan observes that sublimated violence, while relevant to both texts, cannot explain the attitudes adopted to sacrificial practice. In retellings of the story of Zechariah, human and animal victims fail to provide the redemption Israel needs. By contrast, in the Story of the Ten Martyrs, heroic rabbis are represented as sacrificial victims who willingly lay down their lives to atone for Israel’s sin. Quite different in their approach, these texts nevertheless participate in a common project of wresting control over the meaning and function of righteous human blood in the context of an increasingly hegemonic Roman-Christian culture.Less

Confounding Blood : Jewish Narratives of Sacrifice and Violence in Late Antiquity

Boustan Ra‘anan S.

Published in print: 2011-10-14

As Ra‘anan Boustan observes, sacrificial cult remained the dominant paradigm for religious piety among Jews and Christians, despite the absence of sacrificial practices in both contexts. Reinvigorated in discourses of martyrdom, blood remained a charged site of discursive contact, ritual contestation and exegetical competition. Comparing two contemporaneous narratives from late antiquity, rabbinic accounts of the death of Zechariah the prophet and the Story of the Ten Martyrs, Boustan observes that sublimated violence, while relevant to both texts, cannot explain the attitudes adopted to sacrificial practice. In retellings of the story of Zechariah, human and animal victims fail to provide the redemption Israel needs. By contrast, in the Story of the Ten Martyrs, heroic rabbis are represented as sacrificial victims who willingly lay down their lives to atone for Israel’s sin. Quite different in their approach, these texts nevertheless participate in a common project of wresting control over the meaning and function of righteous human blood in the context of an increasingly hegemonic Roman-Christian culture.

In late antiquity, as Christianity emerged from Judaism, it was not only the new religion that was being influenced by the old. The rise and revolutionary challenge of Christianity also had a ...
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In late antiquity, as Christianity emerged from Judaism, it was not only the new religion that was being influenced by the old. The rise and revolutionary challenge of Christianity also had a profound influence on rabbinic Judaism, which was itself just emerging and, like Christianity, trying to shape its own identity. This book reveals the crucial ways in which various Jewish heresies, including Christianity, affected the development of rabbinic Judaism. The book even shows that some of the ideas that the rabbis appropriated from Christianity were actually reappropriated Jewish ideas. The result is a demonstration of the deep mutual influence between the sister religions, one that calls into question hard and fast distinctions between orthodoxy and heresy, and even Judaism and Christianity, during the first centuries CE.Less

The Jewish Jesus : How Judaism and Christianity Shaped Each Other

Peter Schäfer

Published in print: 2012-02-26

In late antiquity, as Christianity emerged from Judaism, it was not only the new religion that was being influenced by the old. The rise and revolutionary challenge of Christianity also had a profound influence on rabbinic Judaism, which was itself just emerging and, like Christianity, trying to shape its own identity. This book reveals the crucial ways in which various Jewish heresies, including Christianity, affected the development of rabbinic Judaism. The book even shows that some of the ideas that the rabbis appropriated from Christianity were actually reappropriated Jewish ideas. The result is a demonstration of the deep mutual influence between the sister religions, one that calls into question hard and fast distinctions between orthodoxy and heresy, and even Judaism and Christianity, during the first centuries CE.

This chapter examines several other major learned or religious traditions that flourished during the First Millennium, with particular emphasis on their maturation through exegesis of and commentary ...
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This chapter examines several other major learned or religious traditions that flourished during the First Millennium, with particular emphasis on their maturation through exegesis of and commentary on authoritative texts. It first considers Roman law, a tradition rooted in pre-First Millennium, non-monotheistic Antiquity, before discussing rabbinic Judaism, patristic Christianity, and Islam. The goal is to consolidate the argument that the First Millennium was the source not only of the three great texts that have most deeply molded Eurasian civilization (the Christian Bible, the Justinianic code, and the Qur'āan), but also of the exegetical traditions through which these often recalcitrant books were transformed into usable public doctrine.Less

Exegetical Cultures 2 : Law and Religion

Garth Fowden

Published in print: 2013-12-08

This chapter examines several other major learned or religious traditions that flourished during the First Millennium, with particular emphasis on their maturation through exegesis of and commentary on authoritative texts. It first considers Roman law, a tradition rooted in pre-First Millennium, non-monotheistic Antiquity, before discussing rabbinic Judaism, patristic Christianity, and Islam. The goal is to consolidate the argument that the First Millennium was the source not only of the three great texts that have most deeply molded Eurasian civilization (the Christian Bible, the Justinianic code, and the Qur'āan), but also of the exegetical traditions through which these often recalcitrant books were transformed into usable public doctrine.

The existence of ascetic elements within rabbinic Judaism has generally been either overlooked or actually denied. This is in part because asceticism is not commonly identified with celibacy, whereas ...
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The existence of ascetic elements within rabbinic Judaism has generally been either overlooked or actually denied. This is in part because asceticism is not commonly identified with celibacy, whereas the rabbis emphasized sexuality as a positive good. In addition, argues this book, it serves the theological agendas of both Jewish and Christian scholars to characterize Judaism as non- or anti-ascetic. In fact, however, the book shows that rabbinic asceticism does indeed exist. This asceticism is secondary, rather than primary, in that the rabbis place no value on self-denial in and of itself, but rather require themselves the virtual abandonment of familial, social, and economic life in favour of an absolute commitment to the study of the Torah. It is an asceticism of neglect, rather than negation. One form of asceticism in particular—fasting—became increasingly popular in the wake of the destruction of the second temple. The book traces this to the need to mourn the temple's devastation but also to the cessation of temple-related rituals. The book shows that fasting was seen as a substitute for these rituals when the Temple was destroyed.Less

Holy Men and Hunger Artists : Fasting and Asceticism in Rabbinic Culture

Eliezer Diamond

Published in print: 2003-11-20

The existence of ascetic elements within rabbinic Judaism has generally been either overlooked or actually denied. This is in part because asceticism is not commonly identified with celibacy, whereas the rabbis emphasized sexuality as a positive good. In addition, argues this book, it serves the theological agendas of both Jewish and Christian scholars to characterize Judaism as non- or anti-ascetic. In fact, however, the book shows that rabbinic asceticism does indeed exist. This asceticism is secondary, rather than primary, in that the rabbis place no value on self-denial in and of itself, but rather require themselves the virtual abandonment of familial, social, and economic life in favour of an absolute commitment to the study of the Torah. It is an asceticism of neglect, rather than negation. One form of asceticism in particular—fasting—became increasingly popular in the wake of the destruction of the second temple. The book traces this to the need to mourn the temple's devastation but also to the cessation of temple-related rituals. The book shows that fasting was seen as a substitute for these rituals when the Temple was destroyed.

This study provides a comprehensive analysis of Jewish views on peace and violence. It examines five major thought-worlds in Judaism—the Bible, rabbinic Judaism, medieval Jewish philosophy, Kabbalah, ...
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This study provides a comprehensive analysis of Jewish views on peace and violence. It examines five major thought-worlds in Judaism—the Bible, rabbinic Judaism, medieval Jewish philosophy, Kabbalah, and modern Zionism—and it demonstrates that each of these thought-worlds exhibits ambiguity regarding peace and violence. To make this case, an unusual format has been adopted. Two separate analyses are presented for each of the thought-worlds: one that argues for a peaceful reading of Judaism, and another that argues for a violent reading. The aim is to show that both readings are valid and authentic interpretations of Judaism. The study also explores why Judaism is so ambiguous on the issues of peace and violence by examining the interpretive methods that support each reading. These include such techniques as the selection of texts that support a viewpoint, selective emphasis on some texts at the expense of others, and the use of historical context to give meaning to a text. This study is relevant not just for Judaism. Other religions exhibit the same ambiguities that Judaism does when it comes to peace and violence. This study is therefore meant to provide a model for the analysis of other religious traditions as well.Less

The Peace and Violence of Judaism : From the Bible to Modern Zionism

Robert Eisen

Published in print: 2011-01-12

This study provides a comprehensive analysis of Jewish views on peace and violence. It examines five major thought-worlds in Judaism—the Bible, rabbinic Judaism, medieval Jewish philosophy, Kabbalah, and modern Zionism—and it demonstrates that each of these thought-worlds exhibits ambiguity regarding peace and violence. To make this case, an unusual format has been adopted. Two separate analyses are presented for each of the thought-worlds: one that argues for a peaceful reading of Judaism, and another that argues for a violent reading. The aim is to show that both readings are valid and authentic interpretations of Judaism. The study also explores why Judaism is so ambiguous on the issues of peace and violence by examining the interpretive methods that support each reading. These include such techniques as the selection of texts that support a viewpoint, selective emphasis on some texts at the expense of others, and the use of historical context to give meaning to a text. This study is relevant not just for Judaism. Other religions exhibit the same ambiguities that Judaism does when it comes to peace and violence. This study is therefore meant to provide a model for the analysis of other religious traditions as well.

The ethnic identity of ancient Israelites was constructed in opposition to Gentile, or alien, “others” and was expressed in terms of purity and impurity. Different constructions of Jewish identity ...
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The ethnic identity of ancient Israelites was constructed in opposition to Gentile, or alien, “others” and was expressed in terms of purity and impurity. Different constructions of Jewish identity entailed different characterizations of aliens and different views on the degree to which Gentiles might acquire Israelite identity. Previous scholarship, which assumes that all ancient Jews viewed Gentiles as ritually impure and thus off‐limits, is reviewed and critiqued. There are, in fact, several distinct modes of impurity (ritual impurity, moral impurity, genealogical impurity) employed by various groups of ancient Jews, and the boundary between pure Israelite and impure alien was more or less permeable depending on the mode of impurity attributed to the alien. These different assessments of the permeability of the boundary between Jews and Gentiles are connected with widely different attitudes to the postexilic phenomena of conversion and intermarriage, and contributed to the sectarianism that characterized Second Temple Judaism as well as the eventual separation of Christianity from rabbinic Judaism.Less

Introduction

Christine E. Hayes

Published in print: 2002-12-12

The ethnic identity of ancient Israelites was constructed in opposition to Gentile, or alien, “others” and was expressed in terms of purity and impurity. Different constructions of Jewish identity entailed different characterizations of aliens and different views on the degree to which Gentiles might acquire Israelite identity. Previous scholarship, which assumes that all ancient Jews viewed Gentiles as ritually impure and thus off‐limits, is reviewed and critiqued. There are, in fact, several distinct modes of impurity (ritual impurity, moral impurity, genealogical impurity) employed by various groups of ancient Jews, and the boundary between pure Israelite and impure alien was more or less permeable depending on the mode of impurity attributed to the alien. These different assessments of the permeability of the boundary between Jews and Gentiles are connected with widely different attitudes to the postexilic phenomena of conversion and intermarriage, and contributed to the sectarianism that characterized Second Temple Judaism as well as the eventual separation of Christianity from rabbinic Judaism.

In the wake of the Destruction rose a new class of Jewish leadership in the rabbis. This chapter discusses the emergence and dominance of Rabbinic Judaism and its sacred literature after the ...
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In the wake of the Destruction rose a new class of Jewish leadership in the rabbis. This chapter discusses the emergence and dominance of Rabbinic Judaism and its sacred literature after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 ce. The trauma of destruction encouraged the new leadership to develop a different approach toward dealing with conflicts between Jews and Gentiles.Less

Rabbinic Responses to War's Failure

Reuven Firestone

Published in print: 2012-07-02

In the wake of the Destruction rose a new class of Jewish leadership in the rabbis. This chapter discusses the emergence and dominance of Rabbinic Judaism and its sacred literature after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 ce. The trauma of destruction encouraged the new leadership to develop a different approach toward dealing with conflicts between Jews and Gentiles.

This chapter examines the current state of research into mishnah, the first major work of rabbinic Judaism. It explains that the mishnah is primarily an edited anthology of brief and often elliptical ...
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This chapter examines the current state of research into mishnah, the first major work of rabbinic Judaism. It explains that the mishnah is primarily an edited anthology of brief and often elliptical pronouncements on matters of Jewish law and practice, frequently providing conflicting views on the individual matters discussed. It discusses the six sedarim of the mishnah and mentions that the mishnah frequently digresses from its main topics at every level of the organisational hierarchy.Less

The State of Mishnah Studies

AMRAM TROPPER

Published in print: 2011-01-13

This chapter examines the current state of research into mishnah, the first major work of rabbinic Judaism. It explains that the mishnah is primarily an edited anthology of brief and often elliptical pronouncements on matters of Jewish law and practice, frequently providing conflicting views on the individual matters discussed. It discusses the six sedarim of the mishnah and mentions that the mishnah frequently digresses from its main topics at every level of the organisational hierarchy.

This chapter examines the origins of Jewish mysticism and the Hekhalot liteature. The findings do not confirm the trend in modern scholarship which locates the origins of Jewish mysticism in the ...
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This chapter examines the origins of Jewish mysticism and the Hekhalot liteature. The findings do not confirm the trend in modern scholarship which locates the origins of Jewish mysticism in the Qumran literature and wishes to see an unbroken chain of distinctly mystical ideas leading from Qumran through rabbinic Judaism to the Hekhalot literature. The result also suggests that the category of mysticism has proved to be a dubious one mainly because of scholars' tendency to insert the notion of unio mystica into the ancient texts.Less

Hekhalot Literature and the Origins of Jewish Mysticism

PETER SCHÄFER

Published in print: 2011-01-13

This chapter examines the origins of Jewish mysticism and the Hekhalot liteature. The findings do not confirm the trend in modern scholarship which locates the origins of Jewish mysticism in the Qumran literature and wishes to see an unbroken chain of distinctly mystical ideas leading from Qumran through rabbinic Judaism to the Hekhalot literature. The result also suggests that the category of mysticism has proved to be a dubious one mainly because of scholars' tendency to insert the notion of unio mystica into the ancient texts.

This chapter examines the rabbinic Judaism from the Palestinian context. It suggests that it is not possible to provide any unambiguous framework which will offer clues to the context, or contexts, ...
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This chapter examines the rabbinic Judaism from the Palestinian context. It suggests that it is not possible to provide any unambiguous framework which will offer clues to the context, or contexts, in which the extraordinary corpus of rabbinic works was composed. It concludes that the composition of the rabbinic literature could only take place in a society marked by a complex interplay of beliefs, ethnic identities and languages and identifies the most common points of reference in Jewish religious writing.Less

The Palestinian Context of Rabbinic Judaism

FERGUS MILLAR

Published in print: 2011-01-13

This chapter examines the rabbinic Judaism from the Palestinian context. It suggests that it is not possible to provide any unambiguous framework which will offer clues to the context, or contexts, in which the extraordinary corpus of rabbinic works was composed. It concludes that the composition of the rabbinic literature could only take place in a society marked by a complex interplay of beliefs, ethnic identities and languages and identifies the most common points of reference in Jewish religious writing.